If you’re asking who was us president in 1978, you’re looking for James Earl "Jimmy" Carter Jr. He was the 39th President of the United States. He wasn't your typical Washington insider. Far from it. He was a peanut farmer from Plains, Georgia, who somehow managed to ride a wave of post-Watergate exhaustion straight into the Oval Office.
1978 was a transitional year. Honestly, it was a bit of a mess. We weren't quite done with the funky, bell-bottomed hangover of the early 70s, but the looming shadows of the 80s—inflation, international tension, and a growing distrust of government—were starting to get real. Carter sat right in the middle of that storm. He was a man of deep faith and high intellect who often found himself at odds with a Congress that should have been his biggest ally.
The Peanut Farmer in the White House
By the time 1978 rolled around, the novelty of having a President who actually understood soil pH levels had started to wear thin for some. Jimmy Carter had been in office for a year. He'd already done things that made people scratch their heads, like pardoning Vietnam War draft evaders on his first full day in office.
Carter's style was... different. He didn't do the imperial presidency thing. He walked during his inauguration instead of riding in a limo. He wore cardigans during televised fireside chats to tell Americans to turn down their thermostats. In '78, he was deeply immersed in the nitty-gritty of policy. This was a guy who reportedly read the entire federal budget himself. Most presidents just look at the highlights, but Carter wanted to know where every single dollar was going.
It’s easy to look back and see a man overwhelmed, but that’s not the whole story. He was a nuclear engineer by training. He approached the presidency like a giant engineering problem that needed to be solved through logic and hard work. Unfortunately, politics is rarely logical.
The Camp David Accords: A 1978 Miracle
If you want to know what Carter was actually doing in 1978, you have to talk about the Camp David Accords. This is arguably the greatest achievement of his presidency. In September 1978, Carter basically kidnapped Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin. Okay, not literally. But he brought them to the presidential retreat at Camp David and told them they weren't leaving until they had a peace framework.
It was 13 days of grueling, high-stakes negotiation.
📖 Related: Why Fox Has a Problem: The Identity Crisis at the Top of Cable News
People thought he was crazy. The Middle East was a powder keg, and Sadat and Begin genuinely disliked each other. Carter acted as the ultimate mediator, running back and forth between their cabins. He used every trick in the book, including personal appeals regarding their grandchildren, to keep them at the table. On September 17, 1978, they signed the framework for a historic peace treaty. It ended decades of war between Egypt and Israel. It remains a cornerstone of Middle East diplomacy to this day, even if peace in the broader region remains elusive.
The Economy Was Getting Uglier
While Carter was winning accolades on the world stage, things at home were getting expensive. Fast. 1978 was the year "stagflation" started to really hurt. It’s that nasty combination of stagnant economic growth and high inflation. Imagine going to the grocery store and seeing prices jump every single week while your paycheck stays exactly the same.
The numbers are wild to look at now. Inflation in 1978 was hovering around 7% to 9%, and by the end of the year, it was clear it was heading into double digits. Interest rates were climbing too. If you wanted to buy a house in 1978, you were looking at mortgage rates that would make a modern homebuyer faint.
Carter tried to fight it with a "voluntary" wage and price control program. He basically asked businesses and unions to play nice and keep costs down. It didn't work. Critics called it "inflation fighting with a feather duster." He also appointed G. William Miller as Chairman of the Federal Reserve in early '78, a move that many economists later criticized as being too timid in the face of rising prices. It wasn't until he appointed Paul Volcker later that the real "inflation-slaying" began, but that's a story for 1979.
The Panama Canal and the Conservative Backlash
Another huge 1978 moment for the US president was the ratification of the Panama Canal Treaties. Carter believed that holding onto the canal was a vestige of colonialism that hurt America’s reputation in Latin America. He wanted to give it back to Panama.
The pushback was intense.
👉 See also: The CIA Stars on the Wall: What the Memorial Really Represents
Conservative icons like Ronald Reagan used the issue to hammer Carter. "We built it, we paid for it, it's ours, and we're going to keep it," was the rallying cry. It was a brutal political fight. Carter eventually won, and the Senate narrowly ratified the treaties in the spring of 1978. It was a moral victory for Carter, but a political disaster. It energized the "New Right" and gave them a perfect issue to organize around. It showed that Carter was willing to do what he thought was right, even if it was wildly unpopular with a large chunk of the electorate.
Lifestyle and the 1978 Vibe
What was it like to live under the Carter administration in '78? It was a time of contradictions. On one hand, you had the rise of disco—Saturday Night Fever had just come out in late '77 and was dominating the culture. On the other hand, you had a President who was a Sunday school teacher and didn't serve hard liquor at the White House.
The energy crisis was the backdrop of everything. People were genuinely worried about running out of oil. Carter pushed through the National Energy Act of 1978, which encouraged conservation and the development of renewable energy. He even put solar panels on the White House roof! Reagan took them down later, but in '78, it was a symbol of Carter’s forward-thinking (and some said, "buzzkill") approach to American consumption.
Civil Rights and the Bakke Case
1978 was also a landmark year for the Supreme Court. The Regents of the University of California v. Bakke decision came down in June. It was a massive deal for affirmative action. The court ruled that while racial quotas were unconstitutional, race could still be considered as one of many factors in college admissions.
Carter’s Department of Justice had filed a brief that tried to walk a middle line, supporting the concept of affirmative action without endorsing rigid quotas. It was a classic Carter move: trying to find the most ethical, nuanced path through a minefield of controversy.
The Jonestown Nightmare
We can't talk about 1978 without mentioning the horror of Jonestown. In November, over 900 people died in a mass suicide-murder in Guyana at the direction of cult leader Jim Jones. Before the tragedy, Congressman Leo Ryan had traveled there to investigate and was assassinated.
✨ Don't miss: Passive Resistance Explained: Why It Is Way More Than Just Standing Still
It shook the American psyche to its core. The images of the multicolored vats of poisoned "Kool-Aid" (it was actually Flavor Aid) became a permanent part of our collective trauma. For the Carter administration, it was a reminder of the strange, dark fringes of the era that seemed to be popping up everywhere.
Why 1978 Matters Now
So, why should we care about who was us president in 1978?
Because the seeds of our current world were planted then. The rise of the religious right, the debate over American "decline," the shift toward clean energy, and the complexities of Middle Eastern peace—all of it was happening under Carter's watch.
Carter was a man of immense integrity who often lacked the "schmooze" factor required for DC. He didn't like the "game." He thought if he presented the most logical, moral argument, people would naturally follow. They didn't always follow. He left office in 1981 with low approval ratings, but his post-presidency—building houses with Habitat for Humanity and monitoring elections worldwide—has made him one of the most admired former presidents in history.
Actionable Insights for History Buffs
If you're digging into the Carter era, don't just look at the highlights. History is in the margins.
- Check out the "Crisis of Confidence" speech: Though it happened in 1979, the malaise it described was brewing throughout 1978. It’s a fascinating look at a leader trying to diagnose a nation’s soul.
- Look into the Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment Act: Signed by Carter in 1978, it changed how the Federal Reserve operates. It’s why the Fed now has a "dual mandate" to keep prices stable and employment high.
- Read about the 1978 Midterms: Republicans made significant gains, signaling the beginning of the shift that would lead to the "Reagan Revolution" in 1980.
- Research the 1978 Airline Deregulation Act: This is why you can (usually) afford to fly today. Carter signed it, and it completely changed how we travel, for better and worse.
Jimmy Carter's 1978 wasn't about flashy slogans. It was about hard, often thankless work on issues that didn't have easy answers. Whether you think he was a failed leader or a misunderstood visionary, there's no denying he was a man who took the weight of the world seriously. It was a year of peace treaties and gas lines, of solar panels and disco. It was a year that, in many ways, defined the America we live in today.